Zech 4
4:1 Vision of the Lampstand and Olive Trees

Now the angel who talked with me came back and wakened me, as a man who is wakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?”
So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps. 3 Two olive trees are by it, one at the right of the bowl and the other at its left.” 4 So I answered and spoke to the angel who talked with me, saying, “What are these, my lord?”
5 Then the angel who talked with me answered and said to me, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
6 So he answered and said to me:
“This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel:’Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’Says the LORD of hosts. 7’Who are you, O great mountain?Before Zerubbabel you shall become a plain!And he shall bring forth the capstone With shouts of “Grace, grace to it!”‘”
8 Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying:
9 “The hands of ZerubbabelHave laid the foundation of this temple; His hands shall also finish it.Then you will know That the LORD of hosts has sent Me to you. 10 For who has despised the day of small things?For these seven rejoice to see The plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel.They are the eyes of the LORD,Which scan to and fro throughout the whole earth.”
11 Then I answered and said to him, “What are these two olive trees — at the right of the lampstand and at its left?” 12 And I further answered and said to him, “What are these two olive branches that drip into the receptacles of the two gold pipes from which the golden oil drains?”
13 Then he answered me and said, “Do you not know what these are?”
And I said, “No, my lord.”
14 So he said,”These are the two anointed ones, who stand beside the Lord of the whole earth.”
NKJV

Here the prophet is brought in the Spirit, and it is like he is awakened. The Lord is wanting to wake us up, out of our flesh, into the realm of the Spirit, because there He wants to speak into our restoration. Yes this is the season of Restoration. He is restoring to us, in the context of the return of the Jews to their land, after Captivity. He is bringing us to lay down the foundation of the new restored things of the Lord, worship, the priesthood, the lamps, the sacrifices and incense altar. Be awaked in spirit. Be brought into the realm of the spirit…it is there we grasp the things God is bringing into manifestation .

The question: “What do you see?” is the first thing the angel asks Zechariah. When we come into the realm of the spirit our eyes are opened. Then our ears. God wants to ask you what do you see? Many are so blind, or refuse to see.

“I am looking.” This is a positive word, actively seeing to comprehend. Oh that we would see and be looking at the things God is revealing.

“The Lampstand”. Jesus speaks of this in Revelation 2. He speaks of its removal because it was there in the Church, in its midst. It is a marvellous spiritual reality that harks back to the Temple and the Tabernacle. This lampstand was fed by oil to be constantly burning. The lamps were constantly in flame, dancing every hour, which the oil flowed to the lamps bringing light constantly. Jesus in Matthew 25 spoke of the lamps which had gone out in the slumber and where the foolish had no oil, and were left outside. This lampstand speaks of the Covenant, being the oil that is flowing from the Olive Tree. Some explain the 2 olive trees being Zerrubabel and Joshua in its literal sense. It could well be.

The oil constantly flowing is the Covenantal promises that constantly flow out of being in covenant with God. In Hebrews 11 we see the loose connotation to this, being that the ancients of faith gained testimony that they pleased God. This state of having testimony is the symbolic state of having a spiritual lampstand constantly pouring out the oil, to the lamp which lights our spirit.

Is this not the state of revival that God wants us to live in? Oh that God places His Lampstand in our midst! Oh that we have the constant flow of oil? Could this also be like the constant prayer that we offer, the constant fellowship we have with God? Is not the constant flow of oil be according to that flow of praise, worship and devotion from our soul? I believe so.

Our churches must come with the same disposition like that of the captives who came back to Zion. We saw this in my message concerning Psalm 126. This prayer I speak is not the mechanical prayers that we sometimes pray for others. No, our prayer must be the place of fellowship between Creator and Creature. That we may be the lights, which have always the oil flowing to them. May we dance and flicker with constancy!

The flow of oil was unending as is the Covenant of the Lord. The oil was fresh as it flowed. So we must have our times fresh, our souls fresh, even tired souls becoming alive in the freshness of the oil.

“Not by Might nor by power, but by My Spirit” As we hear these words, we then see that this marks the turning point into the vision, as now we turn away from the olive trees and the lamps. We now come to the foundation of the Temple, the plumbline of Zerrubabel. This is the culmination of what we are about to see restored. All that will happen will not happen with our own might, nor by influence we may have. We cannot manufacture the Move of God with our strength of determination, nor by the connections we have. Simply we will burn in the Spirit’s oil, and then we shall see that it is only by Him that we see that all shall come to pass.

Many a revival that occured started from those small things. Those small things is our beginning in our search for Him, our crying out for His Restoration in our midst, our simplicity! Let us not despise the times when we prayed and saw nothing, yet our eyes were being opened to visions and interpretations of scripture. Indeed if we despise these times certainly all that restoration afforded would be shipwrecked by our pride. We would slip into the notion that it was by our hand, our might, our influence that we acquired when all the time the Holy Spirit came and produced what we could not, and did what our ability was too weak to establish.

What I am being shown is that the different denomination is being fed by channels like the channels coming from the Olive Tree. They are fed the same oil. They are seeking, howbeit with languages and terminologies distinct to them. However they are seeking. Many are opening their churches daily for prayer and bringing specific times of seeking by the ministry of the Church. I encourage you if you have not done this, if you still have your meeting place closed during the week, to receive the Call today! That is if you do not do this, you will be bypassed when the Lord comes to His Temple suddenly! They will produce the same light and God will lay down the foundation to the Eternal Temple from our prayers.

We have been too much concentrated on our programmes and on the calendar. This realm of things will be wrapped up and God will dedicate a New Temple, not made with hands.

Everything God was doing in this passage the Angel made proclamations. There was a constant divine commentary. This is what we call prophecy. A constant commentary which enlightens us to what God is doing so we can flow with it.

Here God’s man is revealed. And so were the difficulties. There were mountains in front of him. Jesus also alludes to this in Mark 11 when by faith we are exhorted to speak to the mountain. Here the majestic tall mountains are levelled. When you can comprehend this from an historical viewpoint you will appreciate its significance.

There were many enemies, who were in Persia trying to block Cyrus’ edict. A surprising turn of events where a foreign King orders the return of the Captives at exactly the time when Jeremiah indicated in chapter 29 of His Book. We must remember God is exact with His Timings. Many enemies tried to block the godly edict. Those enemies were motivated by all that which was not of God. Does that not remind you of parrallels of political significance in our day? Is not Brexit tried to be stopped, halted in the courts? Is not Brexit a seismic shift in the same dimension as the return of the Captives to Zion? I believe so. Why is it so contested and so controversial? Because so many have so much to lose, and God has so much to establish through it if the Church in the United Kingdom grasps the opportunity.

And recently Ezra 3 has been a constant in my readings, where the altar is cemented down on bases, because of the enemies surrounding the worship place. Yet with boldness so the sacrifices continued night and day. So the Feasts were celebrated with joy.

“The hands of Zerrubabel which have laid the foundation of this Temple shall finish it.” 

There is coming a leadership which shall start and shall complete. This leadership is the leadership of the lampstand. They are full of the light of the Lord, full of the flowing golden oil from heaven itself!

“The plumbline in the hands of Zerrubabel.” 

There is coming a new leadership which shall know its calling. Does not matter what denomination we speak but they shall come with the measurements of God! They shall make sure we are in direct alignment with the programme of God for this time.

This is a glorious vision for our times. May we heed it, may we pray it in. As we pray with passion, in the way we do, may we not reject the new leadership who come with zeal and deal with our alignment, and come without compromise. May we know what we are doing is eternal. There is no time for games…it is the end time.

Yeshua come quickly…

Shalom!

Russell Durose

28/3/2017

russell.durose@zion-ministry-network.co.uk